


Jenny Says

by Jennifer-Oksana (JenniferOksana)



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2015-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-24 15:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4924132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenniferOksana/pseuds/Jennifer-Oksana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just because girls are pretty together does not mean they are immune from drama.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jenny Says

The blonde woman pacing back and forth seemed kind of familiar, looking around the hallway irritably, as though she was waiting for someone who had the bad taste to have gone missing. Given her expression, George thought maybe he would have gone missing, too, but that was the defense of a man who knew just what an angry woman could do when she was really, really mad.

But it wasn’t until the blonde glared them down as George, Meredith, and Izzie walked by on their way to the nurse’s station that George realized she was familiar because she was famous for glaring a lot. And was also famous.

“Hey, that’s Jennifer Healey,” George said as the trio escaped the glare. “She was the star of that Sci-Fi show that films up in Vancouver before that movie she did…”

“Late Night Lattes,” Hahn said crisply, appearing out of nowhere and surprising everyone. “That’s the movie she did. It made 24.6 million at the box office opening weekend.”

Meredith, George, and Izzie all tried not to gape. Why would Hahn know or care about a minor movie star? Or talk to them, period?

“So why do you think she’s here?” Izzie asked in an attempt to break up the sudden awkward tension.

“She’s here to see me,” Hahn said. “And that’s why I am very, very busy and important today and I don’t care if you have to throw your bodies in front of a train, you keep Jen away from me.”

And with that, Hahn strode off, just as Jennifer Healey practically sprinted to the nurses’ station and into Meredith.

“Was that Erica?” the actress asked, tilting her head. “Dr. Hahn, I mean. They told me that she’d joined the drama club here at Seattle Grace, but I still can’t believe it. Erica always thought this place was an insane asylum for surgeons.”

It wasn’t any one thing that made it obvious that Jennifer Healey was Hahn’s ex, but Izzie exchanged a glance with George, who exchanged it with Meredith, who nodded.

Totally the ex.

George’s eyes got wide as he realized that Hahn’s ex was much more impressive than he ever could hope to be. And that Callie was going to be very, very unhappy about Jennifer Healey for this and many other reasons.

“Is there a reason you’d want to see Dr. Hahn, ma’am?” Izzie asked nicely.

“A lot of reasons, yeah,” Jennifer replied. “But most importantly, my mother’s just been admitted here because she needs a valve replacement, and I need Erica to assure my mother she’ll be fine. Mom always liked when Erica took care of her. She said that Erica was so bad at lying that if Erica said she’d be okay, she’d damn well be running a marathon in two months.”

George forced a smile, because Izzie was stepping on his foot. “Well, Ms. Healey, Dr. Hahn is very busy as our head of cardiothoracic surgery and I’m not sure she’ll be able to attend to that request.”

“Oh, God,” said Jennifer with a laugh. “Let me guess. Erica’s in full-on broody intimidating antisocial mode these days. That’s almost sweet, how she’s not over it.”

Cristina had a tendency to have perfect bad timing. George was pleased that it wasn’t at his expense for once. “I swear, if I come home one more time and find Hahn’s bra hanging from something, I’m going to start charging her rent,” she announced.

Everyone, including Jennifer, gaped at her. Cristina shrugged. “What?” she asked.

“Dr. Yang, this is Jennifer Healey,” Meredith said. “Her mother has just been admitted for a valve replacement.”

“Oh, to hell with that,” Jennifer said, folding her arms and glaring at Cristina with a peculiar intensity for a B-list actress George was pretty sure had been linked to Zach Braff recently. “Erica is dating again? Who is she dating? When did that happen?”

“Aren’t you the girl from that annoying show?” Cristina asked. “What’s the name? Dark Blades, right?”

Jennifer’s face pinched up and her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Blade of Darkness,” she spat out. “And I want to see Erica. Right the hell now.”

“Ms. Healey, I promise you, Dr. Hahn is very busy,” George repeated. Jennifer and Cristina rolled their eyes.

“Tell Erica that it’s important,” Jennifer said. “Mom is freaking out, and even if she’s still pissed at me, taking it out on my mom, who loves her anyway, is not cool.”

The cluebat descended on Cristina, who stared at Jennifer. “Wait, you and Hahn were…okay, then,” Cristina said, biting back a laugh.

“I see the drama club lives up to its name,” Jennifer replied nastily. “Wonderful bedside manner here at Seattle Grace, too.”

She stomped off, and the junior residents not named Cristina all shook their heads at their colleague.

“Wow,” said Cristina, staring after Jennifer thoughtfully. “So that’s Hahn’s ex. You know what I’m thinking?”

“That Hahn was smart to run and hide?” George asked.

“That, and that McSteamy is going to be pissed,” Cristina said. “Because you know McSteamy will try to hit on Dark Blades over there and then he’s going to find out he’s been cockblocked by Hahn _yet again._ ”

“Cristina, that’s so mean,” Izzie said.

“I know, right? But I’m the one who has to listen to noisy, noisy sex in my apartment that I’m not having, so I make my own fun,” Cristina replied.

Meredith, who had spent two nights over the summer at Cristina’s listening to the noise, could only agree with that mutely.

“Do you think we should tell Callie?” Meredith asked.

“Yes,” Izzie said. “I mean, if my girlfriend’s incredibly hot ex showed up like this, I would want a warning.”

“I think you’re right,” George said. “So are you going to do it?”

Izzie snorted and shook her head intensely. “I think you should do it,” she said. “You’re Callie’s ex-husband. It’ll show you’re totally not intimidated by her coming out.”

“Or it’ll show that I take pleasure in giving Callie bad news. I totally shouldn’t do it. Cristina’s her roommate, it’s Cristina’s job,” George said.

“Fine,” Cristina said. “But I’m telling Callie how you two are totally afraid of her.”

“I’m not scared of Callie!” Izzie protested. “But I _am_ totally scared her girlfriend will beat the crap out of me.”

“Exactly,” George said, who was painfully aware that Dr. Hahn could probably take him in a fight because she’d glare and he’d fold like a house of cards. “Except that I’m also scared of Callie.”

Cristina rolled her eyes. “Chicken,” she said. “Come on, Meredith.”

Unsure of how she’d been roped into telling Callie that Hahn’s hot ex-girlfriend was in the hospital and a famous actress on top of that, Meredith followed along, feeling weirdly conflicted that her engagement to Derek was the least dramatic surgeon situation at the hospital for once.

* * *

They were going dancing. Erica had no good reason for them to not go dancing, and like Callie said, it didn’t matter if Erica couldn’t dance. She just had to sway while Callie danced with her.

And Yang needed to knock off the little snorts of irritation when they passed each other in the mornings. It wasn’t Callie’s fault that Callie was having great sex and Cristina was living the celibate life. Folding all the discarded clothes and putting them on the table with a note about keeping common areas neat was almost Izzie Stephens-level passive-aggressive.

Oh, speak of the devil, there was Yang, dragging Grey along like a security blanket. Were they going to need to talk or something?

“What’s up?” Callie asked. “Look, I’m sorry the clothes keep getting left places. It’s not like we’re paying attention to where the clothes end up. I said I’d pay for a maid if it bugs you that much.”

Grey did that half-convulse, half-double-take thing that Callie was starting to hate; it was the, “seriously?” twitch. God, like bi girls in love weren’t allowed to have crazy hot sex or something? It had to be all soft-focus cuddling? Whatever.

“Actually, we’re here to warn you,” Cristina said. “Hahn’s ex is here.”

“Yeah, and?” Callie asked.

“And she’s this super-hot actress,” Cristina said. “Meredith, what’s her name again?”

“Jennifer Healey,” Meredith said, swallowing.

“Oh, the valve replacement woman’s daughter,” said Callie, remembering the patients Bailey had been bitching about. “Wait, Jennifer Healey, like from Late Night Lattes?”

“And also from Blade of Darkness,” Cristina said. “We figure that she’s Vancouver-based and that’s how she met Hahn.”

“Well, obviously,” Callie said, remembering what, exactly, Jennifer Healey looked like. Tiny and Hollywood-pretty. Blonde. Absolutely nothing like Callie. “Thanks.”

“Are you going to kick her ass?” Cristina asked, perking up.

“No,” Callie said with a fake snort, completely ready to find Jennifer Healey and kick her in the shins repeatedly. “That’s really childish and totally insecure.”

“Well, after O’Malley cheated on you, I think you’d be justified in pre-emptively killing any skinny blonde chicks who were circling around your…man or woman,” Cristina said.

“George and Erica are nothing alike,” Callie said vehemently.

“Except for being surgeons who sleep with you and have skinny blonde girls running around,” Cristina said.

“Yang, are you trying to get me to kick _your_ ass?” Callie asked. “Look, thanks for the heads-up, but I have work to do.”

Work like finding her girlfriend and learning what, exactly, the situation was with Erica and the girl from Late Night Lattes. Callie took off to do just that, and of course ran smack dab into Mark, who looked happy to see her. Unusually happy to see her.

“Torres, did you see who’s on the schedule? Jennifer Healey’s mother,” he said. “You know, the hot leather-clad wench from Blade of Darkness?”

Oh, _no._ Why was the universe out to get Callie today? She hadn’t done anything wrong. Even the bra had been Erica’s fault, not hers.

“Come on, Sloan, you don’t think she’s a little out of your class?” Callie asked desperately.

“What, a B-list actress? The last thing she was in was that crappy chick comedy,” Mark said. “That is exactly my class. Jeez, Torres, you doubt my powers of seduction? I know I’m not your type anymore, but I think you can attest that I’m not bad at what I do, either.”

Callie groaned. Oh, now this was about insecurity and things Callie didn’t have time for. Why? Why her? “I’m just saying, she’s a patient…”

“She’s a patient’s visitor. There is no rule about sleeping with worried daughters,” Mark replied. “This is exactly what I need. Me and a hot actress in the on-call room. Let’s see Erica Hahn top _that._ ”

And now it was about Callie not letting Mark dis her girlfriend.

“It’s already topped, because Jennifer Healey is Erica’s ex-girlfriend,” Callie said, because while she didn’t really want to say it, Mark talking smack about Callie’s woman wasn’t allowed. Besides, if it weren’t for the fact Mark was a tool when he pouted, watching him realize that Erica had gotten to Jennifer Healey before he ever could was wicked entertaining.

“What?” Mark shouted. “Seriously? SERIOUSLY???”

And of course that was Shepherd’s cue to wander into the farce that was Callie’s romantic life. “What did you do to Mark’s masculinity now?” he asked Callie.

“It’s not her. It’s that damn Hahn,” Mark said, pacing back and forth. “This is ridiculous.”

Shepherd looked baffled. “What did Hahn do to Mark’s masculinity? I thought she wasn’t into that sort of thing,” he said.

“Oh, it’s that Erica’s ex is Jennifer Healey, and Mark was going to use Jennifer to get his groove back,” Callie summarized. “And I wasn’t going to tell him that Jennifer was Erica’s ex, but he talked smack about my girlfriend, and so he had to be told.”

“I talked smack?” Mark asked. “I did not.”

“You said that Erica couldn’t top you bagging Jennifer Healey,” Callie said. “I think you’re jealous.”

“Damn right, I’m jealous,” Mark said. “After years of being the ladies’ man of all time, I’m being outplayed by a stealth player.”

Callie snorted. Shepherd didn’t snort, but he looked a little dubious. Why did everyone think it was so unlikely that Erica was a stealth player? Just because she wasn’t all bff with everyone didn’t mean that the woman didn’t have mad skills, including skills that if Mark knew of them, he would never, ever leave Callie’s girlfriend alone until she agreed to teach him. And also, Callie was supposed to be finding Erica, who was apparently hiding from everyone because of the ex-girlfriend who was hanging around. She wasn’t supposed to be playing with Mark and his insecurity.

“Dr. Torres, Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Sloan,” Bailey said, breaking up the gossip party. “Does anyone know where Dr. Hahn is? She’s got a woman with a valve replacement asking for her. Monica Healey. And her daughter is getting on my last nerve with her nagging. Blah blah blah, just because she’s an actress means she needs everything now and needs Hahn to hold her hand.”

“It’s not because she’s an actress, Dr. Bailey,” Shepherd said, clearly delighted to get in on the gossip and drama. “It’s because she’s Hahn’s ex.”

“I don’t care if she’s Hahn’s…wait, are you serious?” Bailey asked, doing a quick double-take. “It doesn’t matter, I want Hahn out there taking care of her patient. Torres, go find her. Tell her that I don’t care how bad the breakup is, if I have to spend any more time with Jennifer Healey, there will be some words had.”

Callie was not stupid. She ran while she had the chance.

* * *

By now, the entire hospital probably knew that she’d slept with Jennifer Healey. Erica wondered if it wasn’t too late to find a new job. Preferably one in Afghanistan. Maybe Burke needed an assistant.

“Hey, you,” said the light of Erica’s life as she walked into the corridor where Hahn had been catching up on paperwork and assiduously avoiding Monica and Jen and the trainwreck that was on the way. “Sloan is so jealous of you he can’t see straight.”

“He was hoping bagging Jen would restore his status?” Erica asked as Callie sat down next to her.

“It’s Mark. Of course he was,” Callie said. “Bailey says you need to take care of your patient or there will be words. Your ex is driving her up a wall.”

Erica shrugged. “Jen’s good at that,” she said flatly, taking a deep breath. “I suppose I need to speak with Monica — Jennifer’s mother, my actual patient.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Callie asked, looking a little worried.

“No, that’s okay,” Erica said, imagining what Jen would say about Callie. Callie didn’t need to meet Jen Healey and her entire bag of soul-killing tricks. “Monica and I get along really well. Better than Jen and I do, honestly. If she needs a valve replacement, I want her to be in good hands. And I have Yang as a back-up if matters get too personal.”

Callie nodded. “So why didn’t you tell me about Jennifer?” she said, confronting what Erica had hoped to avoid. “Cristina gave me the heads-up after you went into hiding. I think Stephens and O’Malley were afraid of what would happen if they told me my girlfriend’s ex was a gorgeous skinny blonde with a hit film out.”

Erica sighed. “I didn’t tell you because I hoped you didn’t need to know,” she said. “Jennifer was…I would look at her and think, _wow, she’s with me,_ and then she’d do her thing and I’d think _damn, she’s with me._ We were talking about getting married in Vancouver around the end. Jennifer was working there eight months a year, we were going to buy a little house, parent a pair of golden retrievers…and then her agent said if she straightened up, she could co-star in a chick flick and get out of the Canadian ghetto.”

“And then she dumped you?” Callie asked, getting offended on her behalf. Which was another one of those things Erica really liked about Callie Torres.

“No,” Erica said sheepishly. “She begged me to come to LA with her. She promised me that she needed to do three films, and either way, she’d come out, even if it meant going back to Vancouver. Hell, Jen went so far as to find three different openings for a cardiothoracic guy in the area. UCLA was interested.”

Callie paused. “And you said no?” she asked.

“No, I went to the UCLA interview,” said Erica. “It did not go well.”

It had been a disaster. Erica knew from the moment she arrived at LAX that she hated California. Halfway through the UCLA interview, Erica stood up and told the interviewers that she was very sorry, but she was simply not interested in the position. That had sent unexpected ripples back through her life, because her Seattle job had taken offense at Erica’s very quiet search for another job and put her on notice that they would prefer her equally quiet resignation. And then Jennifer had come back from getting the gig with Late Night Lattes dragging some adorable boy toy with her into the hotel room, suggesting a threesome.

And Erica had realized, looking at the blonde, suntanned beauty that had made her the envy of every lesbian in Seattle, that she wasn’t in love with Jennifer at all. That she’d just loved having the prettiest girl in the room, and having that girl be absolutely obsessed with her.

“So Sloan is right,” Callie said. “You are a stealth player.”

Erica rolled her eyes and half-smiled. “Do we have to agree with Sloan? Ever?” she asked.

Before Callie could answer, Erica’s beeper went off. It was Bailey, and Erica was so about to get chewed out.

“Gotta go,” she said to her girlfriend, pecking her on the cheek. “If you want, we can have the longer version of why Jen and I were a miserable failure of a couple later, but if I delay any more, Bailey will probably sic my ex on me, and we don’t want that. Trust me.”

* * *

“Erica!” Monica Healey said brightly when Hahn finally dragged herself into her patient’s room. Yang was already in the room, giving Erica the look of death, as was Jen, who was looking at Cristina as though she were pond scum. Because of course Erica would have to have this consult with two people who drove her crazy while turning her on, because only one wouldn’t be enough torture. “You look amazing, sweetheart. What have you been doing?”

“Nothing special,” Erica replied, keeping her eyes on her patient. “So you’re here for a mitral valve replacement, I see.”

“That’s right,” Monica said. “Dr. Yang was telling us there are two options for the replacement, metal or animal tissue. Is it really safe to use animal tissue?”

“It’s absolutely safe,” Erica said, silently blessing Yang for getting a lot of the work done. “There are drawbacks to both methods. With the mechanical valve, it will last forever, but you’ll have to take blood thinners for the rest of your life. I know that you aren’t very good at remembering your pills, Monica, so I’m prone to suggest the second method, though the major drawback is that organic valves only have a ten to fifteen year lifespan.”

Monica smiled at Erica like she was an especially bright child. “Oh, sweetie, you know how old I am. Fifteen years should be more than enough time for me,” she said.

“Mom, don’t talk like that!” Jen burst out. “You have more than fifteen crappy years in you. Don’t let Erica talk you into a dumb decision just because she doesn’t think you’re good with pills.”

“It is possible to operate and put in a new replacement valve after the first one wears out, Mrs. Healey,” Erica said, trying very hard to stay professional and not scream at Jennifer for being blind about everything she didn’t like noticing. “And I’m not trying to talk anyone into a decision. If Monica doesn’t remember her blood thinners every day, a mechanical valve is at significantly higher risk of malfunction and problems for her that will cause quality of life issues. I want your mother to make the best decision for her based on the best information, Ms. Healey.”

Yang sneered at Jen and quickly recovered. “Dr. Hahn, would you like to see the charts?” she asked primly.

“Thank you, Dr. Yang, but I’d rather hear your recommendation on the situation. As you have no prior personal ties to Mrs. Healey or her daughter, you will be able to make an objective call on the topic,” Erica said crisply.

“Mrs. Healey is in general good health. She admits to having real difficulty in remembering to take pills,” Cristina said, mimicking Hahn’s professional tone. “I agree with your recommendation, Dr. Hahn. Mrs. Healey would be an excellent candidate for an animal-tissue valve replacement.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s an objective call,” Jen snarled childishly. “Having your student parrot your answer.”

Cristina bristled. “Ms. Healey…” and then she swallowed. Erica really hoped that Yang hadn’t been about to say, _she’s not my teacher._ Erica needed to do a better job with that. “I genuinely agree with Dr. Hahn. But if you would like, I can get Dr. Bailey to provide a third opinion.”

“Fine, whatever, I think I’m okay,” Jennifer said, nostrils flaring before she sat down. “You do what you think is the right thing, Mom.”

Erica rolled her eyes and tried to smile at Monica in a confidence-boosting way. It wasn’t easy, because Erica wanted to find a deep, dark hole and hide. With Callie. And a bottle of wine. Two bottles of wine.

“I trust Erica’s judgment,” Monica said sternly. “And you should, too.”

“I just want to make sure that Erica remembers that she shouldn’t let personal judgment cloud her medical opinions,” Jennifer said darkly, twirling her hair between two fingers. “I hear you have a new girlfriend.”

“Ms. Healey, I’m trying to have a consultation with a patient. Personal business can be handled later,” Erica said brusquely, trying hard and failing not to give Jen a once-over. Jennifer was tanner than ever, blonder than ever, and if she wasn’t wrong, the breasts were new. Pity — Jennifer’s originals were fine as they were. “Have you eaten anything today, Jen? You always get panicked when your blood sugar’s crashing.”

“Are you trying to get me out of here?” Jennifer asked shrilly.

Monica Healey chuckled. “That means no,” she said. “Jenny baby, go eat something. It can’t be good for you to worry so much while you’re hungry.”

Jennifer stood up stiffly and glared at Cristina before turning a heat-beam gaze on Erica, who couldn’t take it and looked at her ex full in the face. The look on Jen’s face was discomfiting: she looked so worried and sad and young. And it was kind of obvious, even to Erica, who hated emotional complications, that Jen Healey was the one who was absolutely and totally not over her.

“We need to talk,” Jen said.

“I suppose we do,” Erica agreed slowly. “Go eat something, Jennifer. I need to talk to my patient and she deserves her privacy.”

“Fine,” Jennifer said, stalking out and shutting the door very hard behind her. Cristina made a face that was half sneer and half eyeroll.

“Thank God,” Yang said.

“Be polite, Yang,” Erica said. “That’s the daughter of the woman you’re going to be operating on, and she has very fragile feelings.”

Cristina and Monica did brief double-takes. Monica, who had more practice with Erica’s tendency to give away important things with a shrug, recovered first. “You’re not going to operate on me?” she asked nervously.

“I’m going to supervise,” Erica said decisively. “I’m too close to you, Monica. And you could see that Jennifer…well.”

“Is so not over you,” Cristina interjected.

“Yes, that, Dr. Yang,” Erica said. “Dr. Yang was previously mentored by Preston Burke, one of the very few cardiothoracic specialists who even comes close to my skills. She is absolutely competent to do this surgery, and if anything were to go wrong, I would immediately step in.”

Monica swallowed. Cristina gave Erica a sidelong glance that was half fear and half excitement.

“Oh, Erica, I don’t know. I feel so much better when you take care of things,” Monica said in a halting voice.

“I know. And I am taking care of things,” Erica said. “I promise, you are in excellent condition for a full recovery from the procedure. I can’t guarantee anything, but there’s no reason — if things go normally — that you won’t be back in the garden by summertime.”

The woman’s eyelids fluttered, and she nodded twice, very slowly. “You don’t want me to tell Jennifer, do you?” she asked.

“I want you to sign a release that says you understand that Dr. Yang will be performing your surgery and that you agree to the risks,” Erica said. “I wouldn’t ask you to lie to Jen. And I don’t think you should, because she’ll throw a fit and that would be bad for your recovery.”

Yang was looking at her as though Erica had turned into a turnip or something. Well, that was Yang’s own problem if she couldn’t think of Erica as anything other than the mean bitch who was keeping her away from her one true love, cardio. Or maybe it was that Burke would have never acted like this. Burke probably didn’t have to balance an ex still in love with him with a girlfriend who was likely to collide with said ex. In fact, it had been Yang who was in Erica’s position, if hospital gossip was right.

Anyway.

“All right,” said Monica. “I trust you. But please talk to Jenny, will you? It’s been hard for her. She was so sure you’d change your mind — you know how she is. The world has to be the way Jenny wants it to be or it’s unfair.”

“I know,” Erica said, reaching over to cover the woman’s hand with her own. “Thank you.”

* * *

Callie was twitching with curiosity. At least half a dozen people, none of whom Callie had spoken to before except for one of the scrub nurses, had felt obliged to tell her that while they loved her show, they thought Jennifer Healey was in no way superior to Callie herself as a girlfriend. Meanwhile, half of the residents were avoiding Callie like the plague, not including O’Malley and Stephens, who usually avoided her.

Karev, on the other hand, neither avoided nor sought Callie out, and he was looking like his usual smug self when he tapped her on the shoulder when she got on the elevator. “Dude,” he said nonchalantly.

“I know, okay? Jennifer Healey is here and she’s fabulous,” Callie said.

“Actually, I was going to say Dr. Hahn was looking for you. She looked more pissed than usual,” Karev said.

“Oh,” Callie said. “Thanks.”

She was about to take off and try to find her girlfriend, when Karev added, “Dude, watching Sloan twitch because he knows Hahn’s pimp hand is stronger than his? Is totally awesome.”

Callie knew it was wrong, but she busted up laughing because thinking of Erica having a pimp anything, let alone a pimp hand, was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. “I know, right?” she said. “If my antisocial girlfriend wasn’t so upset, I would have thought this was actually a pretty good day, because this means I’m better than the chick from Blade of Darkness and Sloan’s suffering. But oh no, it has to be angst and drama.”

Karev tilted his head. “So…is her pimp hand strong?” he asked with only a little bit of voyeuristic interest. But it was honest voyeuristic interest, the kind that Erica found distasteful but Callie totally got. “She’s gotta be better than O’Malley. But Sloan…well, Sloan’s got pride in his reputation, so that keeps him on his toes.”

Oh, what the hell, right? It wasn’t like being discreet was going to make Jennifer Healey go away, or get Mark over his insecurity that it was because he sucked in bed, and not because Callie was actually, genuinely into Erica, that Callie had gone with her.

“She’s the best,” Callie said with a naughty smirk. “And I do mean the best I’ve ever had. Sloan could take lessons.”

“Nice,” Alex said, leaning back.

“Oh, yeah,” Callie agreed with a lusty sigh, about to leave again, but oh, that was when the evil blonde ex-thing stepped on the elevator, folded her arms, and glowered right at Callie.

“Are you Dr. Torres?” she asked, giving Callie a once-over that clearly made an issue of Callie being _not_ a size four.

“Yes, I’m Dr. Torres. Can I help you?” Callie asked.

“I’m Jennifer,” the blonde said.

“Hi, Jennifer. I’m Dr. Torres. Can I help you?” Callie repeated, because no way she was making it easy for the ex. No, no, no.

“I’m _Jennifer._ Jennifer _Healey._ You and your little gay experimentation can help me by going right back to men,” evil ex snarled. “Because I kind of want my girlfriend back.”

Karev had this look on his face like Christmas had come early and delivered him a truckload of Victoria’s Secret models. Again, Callie would appreciate it more if it wasn’t her having the chick-fight over a woman in an elevator at Seattle Grace that was bound to become legendary gossip like unto Grey and Shepherd gossip.

“I’m sorry, I think that you don’t know me, and telling me what my sexuality is all about is rude,” Callie said, folding her arms. “Also, Erica’s not your girlfriend, and calling my girlfriend your girlfriend sounds very creepy and stalkerish, and you really don’t want to make a scene at this hospital, because it will haunt you for the rest of your life. Seriously.”

Jennifer Healey totally gasped. “Oh no, you did NOT just threaten me,” she said. “I’m sure you’re feeling very empowered because of your little trip into women’s country, but I _love_ her. And you are just going to _hurt my girl_.”

She was kind of repetitive, and a little sad. Callie kind of felt bad that they were having this fight, except for the part where Jennifer was going to keep claiming Callie wasn’t really into girls and thus did not deserve Erica, and Callie was not on board with that nonsense.

“Okay, Jennifer?” Callie said. “I’m actually sorry that you’re not over Erica. I understand why you’re not, because she is awesome and good at what she does. However, Erica Hahn is so over you that it hurts, and yelling at me because you two broke up is not cool. And if you keep doing it, I will have you physically removed from this hospital. It cannot be good for your mother or her surgeon to have a worried daughter stressing them out further.”

Karev nudged Callie. “Uh, dude?” he said. “You’ve got an audience.”

Oh, yes, of course they were, and there was a pair of nurses, Bailey, and freaking George staring at her.

“Someone needs to get Ms. Healey to the cafeteria,” Callie said breezily, walking away. “I think she’s upset.”

“O’Malley,” Bailey began.

“I know,” George said, looking at Callie with slight awe.

“Don’t even say anything,” Callie said. “Go have bitter ex chat or something. I need to find my girlfriend.”

* * *

Yang and Erica were having a _civil conversation_ outside of Monica Healey’s room. Apparently, the end was nigh and Callie was about to have a heart attack herself, just so she could dragoon Erica off and figure out what the hell was going on with the slightly stalkertastic ex, and being nice to Cristina, and all the endless gossip and how did you handle how gay gossip was somehow weirder than gossip about heterosexual shenanigans, anyway?

“Callie, hey,” Erica said with a smile. “Yang is going to be doing Mrs. Healey’s valve replacement.”

“Awesome. By the way, your ex is a stalker,” Callie said.

“So true,” Cristina agreed. She was way too perky about getting to do the surgery.

“You’re just happy because stalker ex means you can have a surgery,” Callie said with a snort.

Cristina, completely called out by that, looked slightly guilty as she cast a glance Erica-ward. “Of course I’m not happy that Dr. Hahn has an aggressive ex-girlfriend,” she said. “That would be…”

“Oh, please,” Erica said with a caustic snort.

“Fine. I hope you have more crazy ex-girlfriends and their mothers all have bad hearts. Or fathers. Fathers are fine,” Cristina replied tartly. “If that’s what it takes to get me in the OR, may you be cursed with a hundred Jennifer Healeys.”

Callie choked on her laughter, because Erica was tilting between pissed and not-pissed, but apparently Callie’s look was enough to make it not-pissed. That was totally sweet.

“Go away, Yang. Think about what method is best for minimizing the time needed under anesthesia while performing the surgery competently and tell me all about it in an hour,” Erica replied, flapping her hand irritably as Cristina, trying very hard not to smirk or cheer, skimmed past Callie. “You met her, huh?”

“Jennifer? I did meet her. In the elevator,” Callie said. “And now George is in the cafeteria feeding her.”

Erica sighed with relief. “Good,” she said. “Jen is dramatic at the best of times, but when she doesn’t eat, she’s…”

“A mega-bitch?” Callie suggested.

“Yes,” Erica said. “Let’s not discuss my patient’s daughter right in front of her room, okay? I may have joined the drama club, but I retain some standards of professionalism.”

Callie nodded, and the two of them walked toward one of the corridors. Erica looked thoughtful. Not angry, not stressed, but thoughtful. Callie slipped her hand over Erica’s, who smiled and took it.

“So she’s a bitch because she’s hungry all the time?” Callie suggested once they finally made a corridor that wasn’t crawling with other people.

“No, it’s because she’s really in love with me, I guess,” Erica said. “I didn’t realize that Jennifer was that serious.”

Wow, Callie didn’t know what to say to that. Because it was not a good thing for Callie that Erica’s ex was in love with her, because Callie totally had a thing for Erica, but she wasn’t like, let’s go get married in San Francisco at this point, and Jennifer was. And Jennifer was a size four actress who could probably back up her love with loot.

Okay, Callie was an heiress. She totally had more money than the girl from Late Night Lattes.

“Callie?” Erica asked.

“I have more money than the girl from Late Night Lattes,” said Callie.

“Okay,” Erica said. “And that matters because…”

“I don’t want you to dump me because I’m not ready to get married,” Callie said. “Also, you should probably know I’m an heiress. It kind of freaked my ex-husband out.”

Erica nodded slowly. “I don’t really want to get married,” she said. “Also, you told me about the heiress thing. Remember? It was before we started our relationship and we were very, very drunk on that really good red and I asked why you were living on Yang’s couch and if you had a lot of student loans and then you told me that you not only didn’t have student loans, that you could buy that six hundred dollar bottle of wine I was eyeing lustfully, because you were an heiress. And that it really upset O’Malley.”

That was RIGHT! Oh, now Callie remembered. That was even before Addison showed up, and in retrospect, Callie had been hitting on Erica so hard, because she had been doing that thing she did with her boobs to draw attention to them when she was talking about eyeing things lustfully, which had totally been a, “eye me lustfully, baby” kind of moment. Wow, no wonder Addison pinged to the chemistry like whoa. Because hey, Callie had been spending a good amount of time hitting on her friend before gay-freaking, screwing Mark, and then dating her friend.

“Did I buy you the wine?” Callie asked, slightly mortified.

“No, but now I want it for my birthday,” Erica replied with a wry grin. “Look, Jennifer is very intense. It’s all or nothing. Either she hates me, or she has to get married. It was great for a while, knowing someone who always knew what she wanted. Then I realized that it’s exhausting, being with someone who doesn’t come with an in-between switch. Kind of how Yang doesn’t have one and doesn’t care. I get tired, and when I get tired, I lose my temper easier.”

“But she really does love you,” Callie said.

“I know,” Erica replied. “But I don’t love her. I…just don’t.”

“You have to talk to her,” Callie said, thinking that maybe her girlfriend had been about to say, _I love you,_ and had held back. “I would have wanted that, you know? When George wasn’t in love with me anymore, I would have given a lot to hear it from him, instead of all the sneaking around and lying like a little…you know.”

Erica swallowed and looked really, really uncomfortable. “I want us to be happy,” she said awkwardly.

“We are happy, what are you talking about?” Callie said, just a little too brassily. “Go. Talk to the girl before she boils a bunny or something.”

* * *

Erica took a deep breath and steeled herself for what was going to be an unpleasant conversation. Though on the plus side, Jennifer looked moderately placated by O’Malley. He probably liked the show, which when coupled with actual food would improve Jen’s mood by a huge margin.

Not that huge a margin, given O’Malley’s panicked expression of relief when Erica caught his eye, but that was probably because some idiot had told Jen that George was Callie’s ex. Jen was inevitably grilling George for ways to undermine Callie and get Callie to go back to boys and what he’d done to sour Callie on men and things that George O’Malley just really didn’t know about Erica’s sex life.

“Jennifer, are you tormenting residents?” Erica asked, trying to be cool.

“George and I were discussing his ex-wife. _At length,_ ” Jen replied, wrinkling her nose.

Oh dear. Erica grimaced and sat down. “Thank you for helping with my patient, O’Malley,” she said to George, who was already out of his seat.

“You’rewelcomedoctorhahn,” O’Malley said, making the sentence one very quick word.

Jen watched him go speculatively, disdain held in the corners of her mouth. “What a wimp,” she said.

“He’s a surgeon. His job isn’t to hear you complain about how my current girlfriend is an opportunist keeping you away from me,” Erica replied wearily.

“He’s the competition’s ex,” Jen replied, turning on her sweeter voice. “Come on, babe. She’s hot…in that luscious Queen Latifah way, I guess…but clearly insecure. What else do you call someone who goes running for the hospital’s resident bicycle any time she feels sexually threatened?”

“Sloan’s hot for a guy,” Erica replied diffidently. “He’s not that bad.”

“I don’t care if he’s Brad Pitt, that’s tacky,” Jen said. “And she doesn’t love you. Every time someone makes it too real for her, that one is going to whimper and wish she never laid eyes on you.”

“That might be true,” Erica said slowly, remembering Callie’s uncomfortable shift right after Erica declared how she didn’t love Jennifer. “But this isn’t about Callie. This is about you and me. And I know you love me. I believe you really do. But I don’t love you.”

Jennifer immediately teared up. “I don’t believe you,” she said. “You were just mad because I went straight for Hollywood.”

“No, that’s not it,” Erica said, thinking of her early tenure at Seattle Grace and her desperate attempts to avoid drama by playing straight girl. “I wasn’t out here until Callie kissed me in the parking lot. You hurt me a lot when you did that, but I can’t blame you for doing something that you needed to do for your career.”

“What can I do? How do I fix us?” Jennifer asked. “I’m willing to let you run this out; you clearly dig this Callie chick. I can wait. I have a film in production in Hawaii, I still need to keep quiet, the usual. But I want to know how to fix what I did.”

When she wasn’t listening, Jennifer was so hard to deal with. Erica wanted to roll her eyes, mutter something cutting, and walk off. But she couldn’t. If she didn’t make it very clear, Jen was going to find ways to show up until she wrecked Erica’s life here.

“You can’t fix it,” Erica said. “It’s not you, it’s me. I didn’t ever love you as much as you loved me, Jen. And the way you came on was so…you want everything, and you should get it. And I don’t want the same everything you want, okay? I don’t know if you even understand that, but I don’t want that and you shouldn’t not have it because I don’t.”

Jennifer Healey, for the first time that Erica could remember, did not have an immediate comeback for that. Or a sweet look, or a gesture like taking off her sweater and initiating sex. Her eyes were blank. Just plain blank.

“Jennifer?” Erica asked.

“I don’t know what to say,” Jennifer said quietly.

“I’m sorry,” said Erica.

“No, that’s. That’s something we could have said a year ago, when you weren’t screaming at me for stupid California and stupid covering up who I was and stupid moving too fast and stupid Jennifer, the blonde bimbo and her high-maintenance ways,” Jennifer said icily. “You don’t love me. You really, really don’t love me.”

It was Erica’s turn to have nothing to say. “I didn’t know that I didn’t, not until California,” she said.

“Gee, you sure handled it well, too,” Jennifer replied.

“Well, I’ve always been noted for being socially adept,” Erica replied dryly.

“Yeah, I know, you’re an awkward bitch,” Jennifer said. “But there’s a difference between being an awkward bitch and being mean to get rid of someone so you don’t have to deal with the part where you’ve screwed them over.”

Erica didn’t have anything to say about that. “I’m having Dr. Yang operate on your mother,” she said. “There’s no doubt that she can do it. Preston Burke — who previously screwed me out of a heart for a patient, and whom I dislike a lot — trained her. She’s worked with the best and she is relentless.”

“Is that why you’re a bitch to her, too?” Jennifer asked. “Or is it because you find her hot for being an awkward bitch like yourself?”

“It’s a both/and kind of situation, Jen,” Erica said with a tiny little smile.

“That is entirely true, Erica,” Jen replied.

She leaned back in her chair and took a long slurp of her drink, giving Erica one of her very critical once-overs.

“Dr. Torres should know that you’re mean,” said Jennifer. “And that you never say things until afterwards. And that you hate mushy emotional crap but you feel it all the time and it makes you get weirder than you already are. Also, warn your stupid girlfriend that your amazing skills get less amazing when you’re very tired, drunk, or mad about something.”

“Jennifer,” said Erica, embarrassed.

“She _does_ know that you have amazing skills, right?” Jen asked.

“She does. My coworkers do not,” Erica replied.

“Wait,” Jennifer said. “I thought this entire drama-prone hospital ran on sex drama, and you’re hiding that you are really, really good in bed? But that’s…so you.”

She flashed Erica that brilliant, Jennifer Healey smile, the one that one over casting directors, co-stars, and anyone willing to buy Jen a drink.  
“I’m going to miss you so much,” Jen said. “Because you’re awesome. For an awkward antisocial bitch.”

* * *

Callie was waiting outside the hospital on the bench, fiddling with her hair. She’d had a surgery for most of the afternoon, and then Erica had been in consults into the first part of the evening. Sometimes their jobs were about surgeries that didn’t involve drama or a weirdly life-related trauma.

“How’s your ex?” Callie asked.

“Not happy with me,” Erica replied, sitting down. “And then she ordered me to tell you that I’m mean, I never say things until afterwards — don’t know what she means by that — I hate mushy emotional crap, but feel it all the time, and that I am amazing in bed. Also that I’m awkward socially, but that she would miss me.”

Callie didn’t know what to say to that. Because it was a really good thing that Jennifer seemed to be in the part of her breakup trauma where she got that Erica wasn’t coming back to her, but Callie was still pissed about the whole insinuation that she wasn’t that into Erica just because hey, Callie was new to the woman-friendly side of her bisexual self. And wasn’t like, stalker princess who wanted to declare undying love less than two months into a relationship.

“Can I just say that I don’t really care what your ex thinks?” Callie said.

“Sure,” Erica said. “She’s not your ex, she’s mine.”

“I’m not faking this,” Callie said. “I’m not into you because I was pissed at George. I mean, if I was going to find a person to get over crappy men, I’d have gone for Mark a lot earlier. I mean, I went for Mark because I was way, way into you.”

Ooh, that was a good expression on Erica’s face. It was the, _tell me more_ look of interest. “You did spend all that time hitting on me while swearing you were straighter than a line,” she said wryly.

“Like that time I did the, ‘you can’t have me?’ sexy dance where I spent the whole time showing you how sexy and straight I was?” Callie asked.

“I seem to recall that you spent the whole time eyeing me to make sure I watched you get your sexy on,” Erica said, leaning forward tiredly. “You were driving me out of my mind.”

“Worse than Jennifer?” Callie asked, putting an arm around her.

“So much worse,” Erica murmured, stroking Callie’s arm. “I knew Jen meant it when she was flirting with me. You gave some very mixed signals.”

Callie leaned forward and kissed Erica’s jaw. “I know,” she said. “Can we go back to your place?”

“Mmm,” Erica said. “You sure we’re not going too fast?”

Callie pulled back, running her teeth over her lower lip as she began to smile naughtily. It was really nice, having someone who didn’t want to go too fast. Who wanted them both to be happy.

It was even nicer, imagining getting a handful of that blonde hair and pulling while the two of them rolled around in Erica’s bed, with a real mattress and everything.

“Just because I don’t want to get a gay wedding in Canada — or California — doesn’t mean I don’t want you,” Callie said, pulling Erica up against her. “I want you. I want to sleep with you. I want to – I want to wake up with you.”

“There are better things to do in my bed than wake up,” Erica teased, kissing Callie quickly.

“Those, too,” Callie said. “But waking up, that’s good, too. Can we? I’d like to do that. Wake up together.”

Erica looked down very quickly, and Callie understood entirely what Jennifer, the evil stalker ex, meant about Erica’s hatred of mushy emotional crap, because Erica was clearly really, really happy to wake up with Callie, but didn’t want to say it.

“We should go. Busy day tomorrow,” Erica said. “Lots of surgeries.”

“Are we going to wake up together?” Callie asked, holding firm.

“Well, yeah, if that’s what you want,” Erica said, gazing up and flushing slightly. “I’m all for it.”

Callie put her finger on her girlfriend’s mouth and brushed against it. “It’s okay to say it,” she said. “I want to, too.”

“I really want to,” Erica whispered quickly. “But we’re at work. It’s hard to feel comfortable being so open. So can we go home and I don’t know, get ready to wake up?”

Callie laughed, and grabbed Erica’s arm as the two of them walked off toward the car. “You are so emotionally repressed,” she said.

“Some women find that hot,” Erica replied with a knowing smirk. “You seem to, most days.”

“Yeah, well? I’m teaching you how to enjoy being a little wilder,” Callie said, bumping against Erica knowingly. “We are going dancing, you know. You liked sunrise yoga, you liked that thing I did with my thumb, you will like this.”

The answering bump said everything. With a vengeance.


End file.
